Is it value recording at hi-res?

Are solely sure musical genres and acoustics ‘worthy’ of recording at excessive pattern charges, or is it extra a case of price and practicality? Barry Fox is in favour of capturing each overtone

I used to be not too long ago speaking with a recording engineer who works on the pop/rock/jazz finish of the music spectrum. He instructed I take a look at a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs1On87Ixe4) which, in plain and entertaining phrases and with studio demonstrations, affords ‘robust scientific proof’ that ‘recording at 96/192kHz can sound worse than recording at 44.1/48kHz’. Their emphasis, not mine.

I’ve at all times puzzled in regards to the sense in paying £20 for a 192kHz/24-bit model of intentionally distorted rock that has been sourced from a deteriorated tape or low-res digital rescue copy. But new recordings made at 96kHz or 192kHz sounding ‘worse’ than these made at 48kHz? How does that work?

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I despatched the video to a different recording engineer who works in classical music, nearly solely at 96kHz or 192kHz. He bought very cross on the suggestion that his life’s work had been misguided, and anybody who has purchased premium hi-fi gear, and hi-res recordings, might really feel peeved too. So, for my very own schooling I set about making an attempt to reconcile the 2 excessive viewpoints by lowering them to easy phrases that HFN readers can both agree with or shoot down in flames.

Sampling is measuring discrete factors of the analogue waveform. According to the Nyquist theorem, sampling have to be at the very least twice the best audio frequency, otherwise you get aliasing errors which might be analogous to the film impact that freezes fast-moving wagon wheels or propeller blades. As human listening to usually cuts off at 20kHz (decrease for folks) sampling must be at the very least 40kHz. Hence the usual 48kHz audio sampling price (or 44.1kHz for CD).

There is lots of stray ‘ultrasound’ above 20kHz that animals can hear and our ears and brains might in some way register. Vehicle brakes squeal and musical devices have overtones. This ultrasound can confuse a digital encoder and trigger its personal aliasing distortion. So, an anti-aliasing filter removes every thing above 20kHz. To keep away from the completely different distortion brought on by brutal cut-off, the filter begins working greater up and easily reaches right down to 20kHz.

Recording at 96/192kHz captures a few of the ultrasound in case it’s helpful. So far, so usually agreed. But the YouTube video goes on to discover the sensible issues and price of constructing {hardware} that may be switched between sampling charges. Also, every doubling of the sampling price doubles the quantity of information to be captured, transported and saved, or halves the variety of tracks that may be concurrently dealt with. Ergo, it is sensible to stay with 48kHz, assures the jazz/rock/pop engineer.

Not true, shouts his classical rival. If the music is from acoustic, eg, string devices in a vigorous corridor, church or wooden walled studio, there shall be a shedload of pure musical frequency content material method up above the audible vary. It is chaotically including, subtracting and who is aware of what-ing with the audible band. So all of it deserves to be captured precisely for genuine copy.

Even clean Nyquist low-pass filters can mess with the part down beneath within the audible band, and the mess could also be audible. Recording at 96kHz pushes the low-pass up an octave to 48kHz; recording at 192kHz pushes it up one other octave to 96kHz. Whatever the mess is or does, it’s now above human listening to.

Mix it

So is it horses for programs, with completely different recording strategies for various music? No, the horses are the identical. Music is a largely un-understandable mixture of waves, with no clear dividing strains. Pop singers report with strings. Rock stars duet with opera divas. Brass crackles, cymbals sizzle and saxes sound breathy as a result of they’re soaked in overtones that cry out for seize. And with massive information seize and storage {hardware} now actually low-cost as chips, future audiophile generations will rightly revile us for slicing digital corners merely to avoid wasting a number of quid.

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April 16, 2025 at 01:33PM